sagacity had prompted the leaving of a five-foot open space to the south, that the printers might not be deprived of light. For ten feet of that space, or an area of 5x10 feet, one-story high, soon was rented for a news and tobacco stand, the modest rental of $45 a month being cheerfully paid by the lessee, John M. Whitton, a pioneer newspaper man from Deadwood, who enjoyed the distinction of being the first man employed by the Chronicle Publishing Company, and placed in charge of its circulation.
With the addition of a number of rudely constructed sleeping bunks in the corners and the loft, the little 20x30 slab shanty was ready for the reception of the presses and other material some days before arrival.
Col. Arkins had made contracts for advertising, but here his sagacity had utterly failed him, for the rates were so out of proportion to the cost of everything that it would have been madness to attempt to fulfill their terms; hence arose the embarrassing necessity of appealing to the merchants for cancellation of the old, and the signing of new contracts. The cheerfulness with which this awkward appeal was complied with indicates the fairness and broad-mindedness of the early mercantile firms.
Presses and other machinery in place, type distributed and help engaged, every preparation was found complete for launching the little daily on the afternoon of Thursday, January, 29, 1879.
At the outset, power was lacking to drive the machinery, and two burly negroes were engaged to turn the driving wheel of the cylinder newspaper press. The dollar an hour agreed to be paid to each for this service was not considered excessive.
But the high cost of everything deemed essential had well nigh depleted the company's treasury, and the
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